Spinet piano action



Feb. 4, 1941. c', SCHULZE SPINET PIANO ACTION Filed Sept. 3, 1938Patented Feb. 4, 1941 2,230,698

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPINET PIANO ACTION Carl Schulze, SantaBarbara, Calif.

Application September 3, 1938, Serial No. 228,363

4 Claims. (Cl. 84-240) This invention relates to a spinet piano ac- Inthe drawing: tion, This type of piano is not well adapted for Figure 1is a vertical section taken in a front employment with ordinary pianoactions, beand reas: plane through the upper portion of a cause itrequires the action to be located at or piano casing or boX of spinettype, the lower 5 below the level of the keyboard. Ordinary upportion ofthe casing being broken away. This right piano actions require aconsiderable space View shows the parts of the action in a posiin afront and rear direction, and this necessition of rest. tates a casingor piano box of very considerable Figure 2 is a fragmentary view showingsome horizontal depth. of the parts illustrated in Figure 2, but in theIn my prior application entitled Mechanical relation which they assumewhen the key is 10 action for musical instruments, filed March 21,struck and held down.

1938, Serial No. 197,061, I disclosed a piano ac- Referring moreparticularly to the parts I tion of simple construction, greatlyreducing the indicates the casing or box of a spinet type number ofparts that it is necessary to employ. piano including a front board 2which, in the l5 The mechanical action disclosed Il my DIOI presentinstance, is substantially upright or verapplication is not immediatelyadaptable t0 an tical, and also including the keyboard 3, Which uprightmechanical action. is substantially horizontal and extends back Anobject of the present invention is to profrom the front board in theusual manner. Be-

vde a mechanical action embodying the fealow the keyboard I provide abase board 4, which 2o tures of Simplicity and few parts, andparticularly is also substantiauy horizontal, and located at 20 adaptedfOl employment in a Spnet type piano. the level of the lower edge of thefront board.

A further ObJeCt 0f the invention iS 'C0 PIO- Above the keyboard a keyrail 5 is provided vide a mechanical piano action of very simpleCarrying e, plurality 0f keys Such as the key 6, construction, involvingfew parts, and which and each of these keys is Supported on a, Suitcanbe readily assembled into a relatively small able pivot to rock in a,vertical plane; in the 25 space at or below the level of the keyboard.This present instance, each key is supported on a enables the horizontaldepth of the spinet to pivot pin 1 earried 0n an adjustable block 3 begreatly reduced. Also to provide a constructhat is damped in position bymeans of a Clamption in which the resistance of the keys when ing Screw9 passing down into the rail 5,

struck by the lingers, will closely simulate those Supported ou the baseboard 4 I provide means 30 in a piano of horizontal or grand type. forimparting movement from the key 6 to the A fmt-hel Object 0f theinvention S t0 Provide piano action, which is indicated generally by thea construction which will adapt the mechanical reference numeral Inorder to accomplish action disclosed in the said prior application, tothis, 1 prefer to provide a Sub key At an inan upright type 0f designand t0 provide a con' termediate point on its length this sub-key is 35struction which will enable the hammer head to Supported to rook on afulorum l2, which fulrebound and be held a short distance from the Crummay be in the form of a rail or pad string' if the key struck is helddepressed, and l2 of relatively Soft material, Such as rubat the sametime, to construct the parts in such ber or felt. The Sub key is held inalignment 40 a way that as soon as the key is released the partspreferably by means of a vertical pin i3 that 40 of the mechanicalaction will place themselves extends up through a Slot M in the Suokovin a relation to permit a second depression of This slot tapers in Widthin a from ,and real. di the key t0 dYVe the hammer against the Stringrection so that the slot at its lower end fits fairly to produce arepeat note. This enables repeat closely to the diameter of the prin |3The upper 4' notes t0 be Struck in rapid Succession end of the slot I4may be closed by a small cover 45 a Further objects of the inventionWill appear pad I5 that is Slotted to permit the upper end herenafterofthe pin I3 to move to and fro, and this pad The invention Consists inthe novel parts and will exclude a considerable amount of dust fromcombination of parts to be described hereinafter, entering the sloth Iprovide another aligning 5o all of which contribute to produce anefcient pm l5 near the front end of the Subkoy, which 50 Spinet paIlOaCOH. pin projects up from the upper face of the base A preferredembodiment of the invention is deboard 4 and exi-,ends through a guideS101; l1, and scribed in the following specifica-tion, while the it mayhave a pad lining i3 if desire@ The blOad SCOPE 0f the nVerltOl'l iSpointed out in rear end of the sub-key normally rests on a soft theappended claims. pad or rail I9, and this end of the sub-key im- 55partsmovement to the piano action I9 preferably through the agency of acapstan screw 2t, which is adjustably mounted in the upper face of thesub-key.

Toward the rear of the casing I Vand somewhat below the mid positionbetween the keyboard3and the base board 44, I provide a hammer rail 2 i,and on this rail I mount back check levers such as the lever 22, eachback check lever being pivotally mounted on a pin 23 carried by ablock24 adjustably clamped on the upper face of the rail 2l 'by a clampingscrew 25. The rail 2l has a downward extension or fiange 26 on which Iattach a pivot block 21 corresponding to each hammer, and each of theseblocks 21 pivotally supports on a pin 28, a jack lever 29. I prefer tomount the hammers directly on the upper sides of the back check levers22, as this enables me to bring the center of gravity of the hammer andits shank out of linewith the hammer pivot 23.

, In order Ito accomplish this I provide the hammer with a head 39 ofthe usual construction, said head being attached at an angle (preferablyslightly less than to the hammer shank 3i, the lower end of the hammershank being carried in a block or hub 32 that is secured on the upperside of the lever 22. The levers 22 and 29 are preferably wood, and alsothe block 32. This makes for lightness, and Ithe wood is also easilyworked into the desired shape.

Above the location of the rail 2i I lprovide a return spring rail 33provided with springs such as the spring 34, corresponding to eachhammer; and the lower ends -of these springs are bent to form curvedheads 35 that are received in notches 36 formed at the rear edge of`each block 32.

I provide contact means for imparting movement from the jack lever 29 tothe h-ammer 32, and this means is preferably constructed in accordancewith my prior invention disclosed in my said application, Serial No.197,061. This contact means involves the use of :a roller on one ofthese parts 22 and 29, and a spring-pressed rocker lon the other ofthese parts. In `the present instance, I have illustrated a roller 31supported on bracket arms 38 extending down from the back check lever22, 'and on the jack lever 29 I provide upwardly projecting bracket arms39 that pivotally support a rocker 49, said rocker having a forwardlyprojecting stop end 4l carrying an adjustable stop 42 that normallyrests .against a stop pad 43 secured on the upper face of the jack lever29.

A coil spring 44 normally thrusts upwardly against a tail arm 45projecting rearwardly on the rocker 40, and normally holds the rockeragainst the stop pad 43.

The upper portion of the rocker 40 is in the form of a cam 46 covered bya lpad I465a and shaped so that the pad presents `a substantiallyhorizontal driving face 41, the function of which is to contact with theroller 31 and impart a striking movement to the hammer. Toward theforward end of the cam 45 it is cut away on an angle to form a reliefface 43. When the parts are at rest as illustrated in Fig. 1, thedriving face 41 is in contact with the roller, and the location of thisface is on a vertical lline passing slightly to the left of the pivot 49of the rocker 49. With this arrangement it will be evident that when thekey 6 is depressed, the consequent upward swinging movement of the jacklever 29 will impart movement through the 4driving face 41 to the roller31, and thence to the back check lever, 22 and the hammer, causing thehammer shank 3l to swing rearwardly and strike the hammer head 30`against 'the string 59 that is mounted on the back board 5| of thecasing.

When .this action takes place the hammer rebounds from the spring and isback-checked in the manner indicated in Figure 2. In order to accomplishthis I provide a back check pad 52 supported on the forward end of thejack lever 29 and a cooperating back check pad 53 carried at the forwardend of the back check lever 22. The cooperation of these pads is fullyillustrated in Figure 2. Of course, they will only operate if the key 6is held down after being struck. When the key is struck and held down inthis way, the rocker 49 will assume the relation to the roller indicatedin Figure 2; that is to say, the roller will move out of Contact withthe driving face 41, and the spring 44 will hold the relief face 48against the face of the roller. However, if a repeat note is to bestruck, as soon as the key 6 is released. it will return to its elevatedposition through the agency of a spring lto be described hereinafter,and when .this occurs the jack lever 29 will swing down slightly and thespring 44 will then rock the rocker 40 toward the left sufficiently tobring the driving face 41 under the roller again. The immediatedepression of the key 6 for a repeat note, will then operate .to drivethe hammer head 39 against the string 59, and repeat the note.

Any suitable means may be employed for normally holding the key (i inits elevated position. I prefer to employ a coil spring 54 to accomplishthis, said spring being carried in spring sockets 55 formed by drillinginto the adjacent faces of the base board 4 and the sub-key l l. Themovement from the key to the sub-key il may be imparted in any suitablemanner, but preferably through the agency of a push rod 59, the upperend of which is held against the under face of the key 6 near itsforward end, and the lower end of which thrusts against the upper faceof the sub-key il at its forward end. If desired, an anchoring pin 51may be provided on the lower end of the push rod, and this pin ispreferably in line with the spring sockets 55 so that it assists inholding the spring 54 in place.

lThe sub-,key l l is constructed and mounted on the pin I3 like anordinary piano key, with the forward end of the sub-key located directlyunder', and in line with, the forward end of the keyboard key 6. Whenthe key E5 is depressed, the force exerted by the fingers of the playersis transmitted to the forward end of the sub-key, and as the sub-key ismounted like an ordinary keyboard key, its resistances in the strikingmovement simulate very closely the resistances encountered in strikingand depressing an ordinary piano key. The action mechanism proper, thatis to say, the parts of the hammer action operated by the rear end ofthe sub-key, are so constructed as to prevent the development of anysudden resistance `as ordinarily takes place where a jack driving thehammer is set off to terminate the driving action of the hammer.

The upper end of the push rod 56 is preferably guided through an opening58 in the keyboard 3.

The damper 59 may be controlled by the cam post 69 extending up from thetail end of the jack lever 29, which engages the tail end of the damperlever 6i, which lever is mounted on a pivot 62 at the rear end of theblock 33 clamped on the upper side of the rail 2i. The damper isnormally held against the string by a bow spring 63. The free end ofthis spring engages a wire shank 64 that supports the damper 59. Thedamper may be adjustable on the shank 64 through the agency of a setscrew 65.

In the position of rest of the hammer, the

. shank 3l rests against the pad 66 on the face of an inclined rest railor back stop 61.

The casing I may be provided with the usual hinged cover S8, the rearend of which is attached by a hinge 69, and the forward end of which isprovided with the keyboard section 'I0 connected to the body of thecover by a hinge 1|. This is the usual arrangement enabling the keyboardto be exposed when desired, without rai-sing the entire cover.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described hereinis only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I donot wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in theclaims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is:

1. In a spinet type piano action, the combination of a sub-key, afulcrum for supporting the sub-key at an intermediate point on itslength, means for imparting mo-vement to the sub-key operating toelevate the rear end of the subkey when the same is actuated, a hammerhaving a head and a downwardly extending shank, a back-:check levercarrying the said hammer shank, means for pivotally supporting the saidlever toward the rear of the piano action, a jacklever with means forpivotally supporting the same toward they rear of the pianoy action sothat the jack-lever extends toward the front of the piano below theback-check lever, contact means between the jack-lever and theback-check lever including a roller on one of the same, and a rockerpivotally mounted on the other of the same, a stop for the said rocker,and a spring for urging the rocker to engage the stop, said rockerhaving a driving face for imparting movement to t-he hammer to swing thesame rearwardly to strike the string, a return spring for the hammer,and back-check pads carried by the jacklever and the back-check levercooperating with the said return spring to hold the hammer with its headnear the string when the sub-key is held depressed after the same has`been actuated, said rocker having a relief face in contact with theroller when the back-check pads are in contact, said relief face beingheld against the roller by the said rocker spring.

2. In a spinet type piano action, the combination of a sub-key, afulcrum for supporting the sub-key at an intermediate point on itslength, means for imparting movement to the sub-key operating to elevatethe rear end of the subkey when the same is actuated, a hammer having ahead and a downwardly extending shank, a lback-check lever carrying thesaid hammer shank, means for pivotally supporting the said lever towardthe rear of the piano action, a jacklever with means for pivotallysupporting the same toward the rear of the piano action so that the jacklever extends toward the front of the piano below the back-check lever,contact means between the jack-lever and the back-check lever includinga roller on one of the same, and a rocker pivotally mounted on the otherof the same, a stop for the said rocker, and a spring for urging therocker to engage the stop, said rocker having a driving face forimparting move-, ment to the hammer to swing the same rearwardly tostrike the string, a return spring for the hammer, and back-check padscarried by the jack-lever and the back-check lever cooperating with thesaid return spring to hold the hammer with its head near the string whenthe sub-key is held depressed after the same has been actuated, saidrocker having a relief face in contact with the roller when theback-check pads are in contact, said relief face being held against theroller by the said rocker spring, said rocker spring operating when thesub-key is released and reactuated, to move the rocker into a positionto hold the said driving face of the rocker in driving contact with theroller.

3. In a spinet type piano action, the combination of a sub-key, afulcrum for supporting the sub-,key at an intermediate point on itslength, means for imparting movement to the sub-keir operating toelevate the rear end. of the sub-key when the same is actuated, a hammerhaving a head and a downwardly extending shank, a backcheck lever withmeans for pivotally supporting the same toward the rear and so that thelever extends forwardly from its pivotal support, a jack-lever withmeans for pivotally supporting the same toward the rear so that thejack-lever extends forwardly under the back-check lever, a rollercarried by the back-check lever, a rocker pivotally mounted on thejack-lever, a stop for the same, and a spring urging the rocker towardthe stop, a return spring for the hammer, backcheck pads carried by thejack-lever and the back-check lever cooperating with the said re-l turnspring to hold the hammer near the string when the sub-key is helddepressed after the same has been actuated, said rocker having a drivingface through which the striking move, ment is imparted from thejack-lever to the hammer to swing the same rearwardly to strike thestring, said rocker having a relief face held against the said roller bythe rocker-spring when the back-check pads are in contact and holdingthe hammer head near the string.

4. In a spinet type piano action, the comb-ination of a casing having asubstantially upright front board, a substantially horizontal keyboardback of the same, a key supported on the keyboard, a base board locatedbelow the keyboard, a sub-key located in line with the key and below thesame, a fulcrum for supporting the sub-key on the base board at anintermediate point on the length of the sub-key, a push rod guidedthrough the keyboard with its upper end in contact with the under sideof the key, means for supporting the push rod on the outer end of thesub-key, said push rod operating when the key is depressed to elevatethe rear end of the sub-key, a hammer having a head located at about thelevel ofthe key and having a downwardly extending shank, a back checklever with means for pivotally supporting the same toward the rear ofthe piano action, a jack-lever with means for pivotally supporting thesame, contact means between the jack-lever and the backcheck lever forimparting lstriking movement from the jack-lever to the hammer to swingthe same rearwardly to strike the string, a return spring for thehammer, and back-check pads carried by the jack-lever and the back-checklever cooperating with the said return spring to hold the hammer withits head near the string when the key is held depressed after the samehas been struck.

CARL SCHULZE.

